Winter Solstice – Wineberry Woods

07Nov 2025 by catbird No Comments

Winter Lantern Round Up

We love lanterns at Wineberry Woods, and always seem to be coming up with new and interesting ways to make them! Check out some lanterns of many different skill levels and pick one that suits you! Star Lantern Simple Snowy Tree Lanterns Geode Lanterns Make ice lanterns with natural materials! Frost Lanterns Round Ice Lanterns Snowball Lanterns

04Nov 2025 by catbird 1 Comment

2025 Winter Solstice Countdown Calendar

Winter, Winter Solstice

Countdown to the Winter Solstice with activities, recipes and crafts. Come back each day for a new surprise! The doors won’t open until the correct day (So 1 opens on December 1st, on December 5th you’ll be able to open 1-5, etc.) The calendar includes an exclusive excerpt from retired Winter Solstice Curriculum that is only be available through this calendar and only in December 2025. The actual calendar won't open until December 1st 2025! In December you will be able to click on the image below and the calendar will open in a new window. Click Here for the materials list– there are some spoilers here, but I tried my best to give you the info you needed without giving away all the surprises! (coming soon!) Click Here for the accompanying Picture…

21Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

What is Winter Solstice?

Folklore, Learning, Winter, Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice is the day that the earth is tilted the furthest away from the sun and consequently has more hours of darkness and less hours of light then any other day of the year. Every day after the Winter Solstice there is gradually a little more light until the Summer Solstice. The sun is at its lowest point in the sky on the Winter Solstice and shadows become stretched out and longer than usual. Ancient people thought that the sun was dying and being reborn on this day. The Winter Solstice most often falls on December 21st and has long been a day of celebration. In fact, it was a whole season of celebration in ancient times. The time between Winter Solstice and the Twelfth Night was once…

11Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Tomten Scavenger Hunt

Craft Project, get outside, Scavenger Hunt, Scavenger Hunts, Winter, Winter Solstice

For a fun and easy "elf shelf" type of activity without the all the work and the weird surveillance. My kids have been loving it and I have been loving not moving an elf around every night. (Not that we ever did the popular version) I used Astrid Lindgren's classic book The Tomten as a jumping off point, but I don't think you necessarily need it. It did inspire some of my hiding places and I think it helped the kids figure out some of the clues. I made my little tomte from sticks-- if you have been thinking about learning to whittle this the easiet project to try. All you do it make a point of one end of a stick. There's no shaping or complicated cuts, just make…

11Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Sun Buns

Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

We loved the sun bread we made last year so much that I decided to make another variation this year-- sun buns!! (Also admittedly I just really like saying sun buns) Same idea, just smaller and easier to serve. Sun Bread, is of course a beloved book by by Elisa Kleven about baking a sun bread to coax the sun to come back- perfect for the Winter Solstice. In the book they bake a big bread to share, which is of course delightful too, but since I had already deviated from the recipe in the story, I decided to keep going. I use a gluten free brioche recipe from Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple (actually the babka recipe which makes a double batch) to make this sun bread gluten free. You…

10Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Deer Mother Winter Solstice Cookies

Folklore, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

After drawing my 2024 Winter Solstice Countdown calendar I couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful image of the deer carrying the sun in it's antlers. I was thinking about all of the Winter Solstice cookies I have made and wondering how I could make one that really is Winter Solstice. Full stop. My Longest Night cookie almost does that, but for the most part they would be perfectly appropriate for a variety of holidays. Generally I like that, we celebrate secular Christmas and Hanukkah too. But I wanted to make one cookie that was unabashedly for the Solstice. Hence the Deer Mother Cookie was born. First, a little background on the Deer Mother. There has been a deer mother/ winter solstice tale making the rounds lately with most claiming it…

04Dec 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Pomander Mushrooms

Craft Project, Nature Art, Winter, Winter Solstice

I started making dried orange mushrooms to use up the rounded parts of the orange when making dried orange garlands. They are super cute just left plain, but I had a brainstorm while I was making pomanders recently-- if I stuck cloves into the "cap" before drying them, they would look super mushroom-y and even better, smell amazing. They make lovely winter holiday decorations, great handmade gifts, cute ornaments, and super special gift tags. They would even be adorable nestled in some potpourri or a winter wreath. A perfect craft to spruce up and make your home smell like the holidays! Pomander Mushrooms Materials: oranges or clemetines knife whole cloves toothpick sticks glue dried moss twine (optional) Method: First prepare and dry the oranges. If you are using clementines just…

02Dec 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Pretty Plentiful & Pleasant Pomanders

Craft Project, Play, Recipes, Simmer Pot, Winter, Winter Solstice

Sorry! Sometimes I have to give in to my terrible alliteration tendencies. This post is all about pomanders in every form. I love the smell of oranges and cloves together more than most things-- it's one of those things I never get tired of. So I decided to go nuts and collect a whole bunch of the various pomander projects I've done over the years in one convenient place! Pomander balls have been associated with Christmas and/or Winter Solstice for some time, but that isn’t how they originated. We think of them as oranges studded with cloves, but in medieval Europe, people would keep little satchels of herbs on them because most everyone and everything smelled bad. They became a status symbol and the wealthier you were the fancier your…

20Nov 2024 by catbird No Comments

Yule Hot Cocoa

Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

This time of year I will happily drink pretty much any kind of hot chocolate, any time and so will my kids. It is the definition of cozy. Being cozy is practically a religion in my household. That said, it recently occurred to me that I have never made a special Winter Solstice cocoa and that simply won't do! So, to correct this oversight, I present to you my Yule hot cocoa. To make it extra Yule-y I added oranges to coax back the sun, cinnamon and cloves for luck, peace and protection (as well as holiday spice), and a little bit of spruce for the ultimate winter evergreen magic. Evergreens are remarkably citrus-y in flavor too. It’s all topped off with a sun shaped marshmallow dusted with turmeric and…

19Nov 2024 by catbird No Comments

“Owl Moon”

Craft Project, Picture Book Buds, Picture Book Hikes, Play, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

Picture Book Buds are a fun and easy way to incorporate literacy into nature study. Read a book (you can even read it outside!) and then enjoy the related activity and snack suggestions! Owl Moon Written by: Jane Yolen Illustrated by: John Schoenherr Owl Moon is a classic winter story about a young girl and her father going for a walk at night. They are hoping to see some owls and her excitement at staying up late like a big kid is palpable. I am also always struck by her desire to keep quiet so as not to scare off potential owls, that struggle for a young child to be quiet and observant is something so many parents will immediately recognize, and it's so beautifully detailed. This one is a classic…

Category: Winter Solstice